Member Biography

Charles Albert "Chuck" Taylor was a fullback for the 1939
Stanford freshman team. When he moved up to the varsity in
1940, a new coach, Clark Shaughnessy, installed a new
formation, the T, and moved Taylor to guard. Stanford, which
had finished 1-7-1 in 1939, moved to 10-0. That included a
21-13 victory in the Rose Bowl over Nebraska. Taylor was
an All-America guard in 1942. He served in the Navy and
was with an amphibious force in the 1944 landing at
Normandy in France. Taylor played one year, 1946, with the
Miami Seahawks of the All-America Conference, returned to
Stanford as freshman coach in 1948, was assistant coach with
the San Francisco 49ers 1949-50, and returned again to
Stanford as head coach in 1951. His 1951 team went 9-2,
was in the Rose Bowl, and earned Taylor election as Coach of
the Year. He was age 31, the youngest man ever named
Coach of the Year. In seven years his Stanford teams had a
40-29-2 record. He left for another business and returned to
Stanford again to serve as director of athletics 1963-71.
Stanford again played in the Rose Bowl, and Taylor was
heralded as a man who had gone to the Rose Bowl as a
player, head coach, and athletic director. For 20 years Taylor
operated Mountain Camp, a summer ground for teenagers.
Taylor was born January 24, 1920, in Portland, Oregon; he
died May 7, 1994. At the time of his death John Ralston,
former Stanford coach, said, "Chuck was the greatest guy in
the world." Bob Murphy, Stanford broadcaster said, "Chuck
was universally loved. He made everyone feel like he was
their best friend."